Marigolds and Mirrors
by F23
Summary: Yet again another boring afternoon with Pit and Roy, but this time it's a bit spooky. Are mirrors creepy or not?


"I heard this super creepy story the other day." Pit said, probably to the only other person within earshot, but he was looking up at the sky slouching on a stool. So he could have been talking to himself.

Pit and Roy were in the terrace, bored out of their minds. There was nothing to do but to feel the breeze, and listen to Kirby laughing as he joyfully ran across the front yard with a metal mask in hand. Meta Knight was hot on Kirby's tail while still hiding his face with his cape. Incredible speed, Pit remarked, to be running like that without actually seeing where he was going.

However, this has happened a couple times before. Nothing new.

When Roy didn't answer after a couple minutes, Pit sat up and kicked his chair. "Hey, I'm talking to you, bookworm."

"What is this super creepy story you've heard the other day?" Roy asked, without bothering to look up from his book.

"Don't use your condescending tone on me, you bibliophile." Pit replied quickly. Nothing new from Roy's sarcasm either.

Roy placed his hand on the line where he left off. "That's the same as 'bookworm' but I appreciate your wide lexicon. Have you been reading up on my books?"

"Very funny. But yeah, 'bookworm' sounded too soft." Pit had to refrain from smiling, since he wasn't about to let Roy get the upper hand in this. Their banter usually ended up in a direction that wasn't intended but Pit actually wanted to talk about this topic.

Nonetheless, Roy continued, "So 'bibliophile' was more hurtful? It's a perfect synonym, there's no insult in it."

"No, because… Whatever, that's not what I wanted to talk about." Pit shook his head.

"Well, were you referring to pedo—"

"Shut up. You're so aggravating. Let me talk about my creepy story."

"Aggravating is a good word." Roy mumbled, then sank in his chair and opened his book again.

Pit stood up and slammed the book, flattening Roy's nose. The bibliophile jumped. The bit of red on that showed on Roy's nose matched his hair and Pit laughed. He then placed the book on the counter nicely, because he knew it was the new release that this friend waited for a long time. However, there were more pressing matters at hand.

"Now do I have your attention?" Pit smiled.

Roy rubbed his nose, making his abrasion even redder. "You know I was just kidding."

"Of course. But if your best friend was excited to tell you a story, a polite person would put down their books without going into a sassy fit."

"But I'm not a polite person."

"Obviously. Anyway!" Pit exclaimed.

Just then, Toon Link came into view between them, meaning he was hanging from above. His sudden appearance made the two jump back. Upon closer inspection, they saw Greninja, the ninja Pokémon, suspending him from the shade above with his long tongue wrapped around the kid's legs.

"We made a fort!" Was all he said before Greninja retracted his tongue and the two deadly assassins bounced off the terrace and down to the front yard.

Pit and Roy looked at each other, and then to the front yard below, seeing the tent made out of old sheets and bedding.

* * *

The inside of the 'fort' was impressive. Lanterns and other paper creations hung from the top, and mountains upon mountains of pillows and blankets filled the floor. Sweet smelling smoke surrounded them, giving off an ethnic atmosphere. Toon Link and Greninja, along with other small wriggling heads underneath the blankets populated the fort in a game of underground (under-sheets) tag. Only Toon Link managed a wave at Pit and Roy, as the game was apparently a heated battle.

"This is, like a legitimate tent. Like a fortune teller's hut but like, their bedroom." Roy said as he marveled the structure.

"What's this?" Pit asked, sniffing the smoking sticks near the entrance.

"I saw the Pikmins placing them in this pot, it's called incense." Meta Knight appeared from behind them, a bit out of breath but now had the metal mask over his face.

Just then, Kirby whisked by, snatching Meta Knight's mask again and performed a perfect nosedive into the mountain of pillows. Meta Knight cried in anger, brandishing his Galaxia and following Kirby into the tent. Pit and Roy took a step back, taking the pot and sticks away for fire precautions, as the tent became a battleground of pillows and blankets.

"…And where did they buy these sticks around here?" Pit asked, smiling.

"The farmer's market that opened recently."

"Oh yeah, I saw that in a flyer yesterday." Roy clapped his hands together, remembering the piece of paper.

"Hey," Pit began, "Let's go to that thing. I'll tell you my story on the way."

Roy shrugged. "Sure, it's not like I've waited months and months for the newest installment of my favorite novel series and I finally got it today or something."

"Great! Let's go." Pit beamed as he put one arm through Roy's and skipped down the brick road.

"My condescending tone isn't working today."

"The taking-Roy's-sass-o-meter was full to the brim as of this morning."

* * *

The two of them made their way down the paved road, making the turns and shortcuts out from memory. As they passed by the empty for-lease house, Pit started, "Have you ever thought how mirrors are super creepy?"

Through the dark window, a bit of sunlight peered in the uninhabited living room. Nothing really happened here, as they weren't informed of any crime happening before its abandonment, but the atmosphere of the house sent chills.

"Not really." Roy's voice was quieter than he intended.

"Right, so I read this creepy thing on the Internet from Fox's computer. That mirrors are doors to another realm. Like it doesn't reflect you, but you're looking through _glass_." Pit twiddled his fingers in front of Roy's face for supernatural effect.

"_Oooh_, spooky." He mocked, and then ducked under Pit's spooky fingers.

Behind him, were the docks and the market. It was in the afternoon so the stores were settling down after the morning. A faint smell of incense came from the market but none of the stores near the entrance had sticks for sale.

"What if you were facing a mirror and like, your face is different from yours?" Pit continued. "You make a smile, but in your reflection, it frowns."

The two pass by a portly man carrying two buckets full of fresh greens.

"Okay, that could be spooky."

"So what was spooky about that, but not spooky about the another dimension thing?"

Roy pursed his lips. "Because… looking in the mirror is the only way to see myself from my eyes. And if that doesn't reflect what I'm doing, then how do I know if the image in a mirror reflects who I actually am?"

"Right? It gets _personal_." Pit emphasized.

He smiled when he saw his friend looking down, mumbling to himself. Roy does that when he's brainstorming with himself as if there's five or six of him talking all at once in his head. And that means he's very interested in the topic, which was nice.

As they walk down the market, they spot a woman focusing all of her attention to determine which slice of cod is the best, and doesn't notice the two of them trying to pass by until her daughter pulls on her shirt to move. The woman apologizes briefly and scoots closer to the counter, but the young girl stares pass Pit in a suspecting manner. Something about the girl's stare was unsettling so they both turn to whatever she was staring at, to find an ornate oval mirror staring back at them.

Roy flinched. "Geez, that scared me."

The store was similar to the new fort back home, like the incense sticks and paper lanterns decorating the front. Nobody was operating the store, denoted from the straw bowl and the sign that read: "Honor System." A couple of coins were scattered in the bowl, possibly from Captain Olimar buying the incense sticks.

"None of these things have price tags on them. I guess people make the prices?" Pit supposed.

He flipped the decorated mirror back and forth for a price tag and eyed Roy in the way it's been done before. And nothing good follows Pit's knowing looks.

"Don't—" Roy started.

"Let's buy the mirror!" Pit laughed, tossing a couple of wrinkly paper currencies into the straw bowl.

Roy groaned and held his head. Not that he was spooked out by some urban legend, not at all, but the fact that an antique store would operate in a middle of a farmer's market by an honor system was strange enough to let his instincts know this purchase isn't a wise one.

"Pit, please. Everything about this reeks of suspicious shenanigans." He tries to convince his friend, and surprisingly, Pit stops his wrapping of the mirror.

The brown wrapping paper stops crinkling for a second for Pit to place a hand on his friend's chest lovingly. "You never call me by my name."

"Oh, whatever." Roy swats his hand away. "But, we're not buying that, okay?"

"Haha, come on. It's a nice addition to the house. And besides, are you actually scared from my creepy story?"

Roy knows he shouldn't buy into Pit's trickeries, but his patronizing tone was too annoying to not backlash. "Well, since you like it so much, how about you put that mirror up on your wall when you sleep tonight?"

"No no no, stay in my room for the night. We need to experience this together." Pit offered, with his best sparkly-eyes look.

"Wait a minute. _You're_ scared, aren't you." Roy deadpans, hopefully to prod at Pit's pride.

But it didn't dissuade him.

"I'm absolutely terrified but my excitement exceeds my terror."

And then Roy remembers, Pit is painfully honest at times and will take risks in order to have his way. Which is a bit opposite of Roy and that is what he values in their friendship, but sometimes it can have dire consequences.

* * *

On their way back home, the sun was starting to set and painted the sky in a soft, warm orange. Pit was swinging and tossing the mirror around like his bow, and a part of Roy wanted him to drop it accidentally so they can forget about the mirror thing entirely, but the thought of shattering a mirror after Pit's creepy talk seemed risky. Nevertheless, Pit didn't drop it and by the time the two made it back, everyone was downstairs setting up for dinner.

Meta Knight noticed them coming in and said, "Where were you two?"

"The farmer's market! We got a pretty mirror for the mansion." Pit grinned, showing the wrapped mirror to him.

"Actually he bought it to put it up in his room so he can look at his pretty face every morning." Roy rolled his eyes.

"Aw thanks, I do have a pretty face."

Meta Knight chuckled, then told the two that dinner was going to be ready soon. Both of them were hungry and the smell of some cheese from the kitchen was very inviting, but Pit decided to hide the mirror in his room before anyone saw it.

As he set the mirror in an open portion of the wall of his room, which turned out to be facing his bed and the window, Pit's excitement was barely contained for the spooky shenanigans the mirror will bring.

"I'm so pumped for the sleepover!"

Roy sighed. "What sleepover?"

"You're going to stay in my room tonight! That counts as a sleepover."

"We… we live in the same house." Roy couldn't suppress a laugh. The fact is, he lives in the same hallway from Pit's room and the two hang out before they go to sleep almost every night.

"Yeah, sure, we all live under the same roof. But it's exciting; so don't ruin the fun atmosphere with your sass." Pit sighed, and then snapped his fingers. "Hey, do you think we should ask Link and the others too?"

"I don't think we're all going to fit in this tiny room." Roy said, eyeing the room. It was a comfortable size for one person, and maybe another on the floor next to the bed, but not all of their swordsmen friends.

"Oh yeah… and they say creepy phenomenon happens with less people involved."

"Who's 'they', in this?"

"Well, it's common sense."

Before Roy can counter why there is common sense in the happenstance of creepy phenomenon, someone called from downstairs that dinner was officially ready.

* * *

During dinner, Pit was exceptionally quiet about the mirror. Roy guessed that if they told everyone, they'd all crowd Pit's room and then would ruin the atmosphere. He just hoped this supernatural business doesn't end up like what happened with the Scary Story Night a couple weeks ago. He eyed the burnt laundry room that's still under construction because the "Laundromat Jack-in-the-Box" story freaked out Charizard. Honestly, Charizard can win against a silly clown in a box any day, but the anticipation of something that _might_ happen from the mirror made Roy understand his anxiety. Just a bit.

The cheese in the pizza was delicious but very filling. Roy thought of going for a third helping, but was discouraged when he saw Kirby and Wario fighting over the last whole pizza. They could just share half and half but that obviously wasn't the issue when the paper plates and plastic cups started to fly in the air.

A couple of orange flowers were tossed around as Roy left the raucous dining room. He nodded to Pit and a couple other friends when they gestured to play cards later. He remembered he left his new book in the terrace, and just as he started climbing the stairs, Kirby was gnawing on Wario's head, which made Roy laugh.

As soon as Roy stepped outside to the terrace, the noise and warmth from inside was shut out. The book was cold to the touch and he sighed in relief to see the bookmark still placed where he left off. In the front yard, the new tent was still there, now with a cloth covering the entrance. The incense pot and sticks were gone, but Roy guessed that Captain Olimar or some other person brought it inside.

Pit's room was open when Roy came back down, and the darkness leading from the open door made him shiver. He didn't mean to, but as he passed Pit's room, his feet shuffled quicker. He was glad to see Pit and the others on ground level talking in a circle shuffling cards.

"We should play Scum." Pit offered.

Link raised his eyebrow. "Scum?"

Pit tapped his chin thoughtfully to remember other names. "Warlords and Scumbags? President? Kings and Assh—"

"So, who got the last pizza?" Roy asked as he sat next to Pit.

Marth laughed, "Roy, you're like the patron saint of good timing."

Roy saw him signaling to look behind them, so when they did, they found Ness, Lucas, and Toon Link hanging from above by a straining Greninja tongue. Ever since he arrived there was an obvious ninja fad between the kids and the swordsmen couldn't help but feel bad for the overworked Pokémon.

Before he could reprimand the kids to go to sleep, Ness said, "Pit, you left your window open."

Pit and Roy looked at each other briefly. They both know Pit likes to leave his window open to let the wind in, but they couldn't remember if they did leave it open before they left the room.

"Thanks." Was all Pit said. He looked at Roy again and pursed his lips as if he was only pleasantly surprised.

* * *

As everyone retreated to their rooms for the night, the card games has gotten to the point where nobody was immediately willing to gather and deal the scattered cards on the table. Ike has been playing the last two games essentially with his eyes closed, so Marth clapped his hands to wrap it up.

"Alright, let's clean up now. Whose cards were these?"

The cards they played with had Hylian symbols on it, so it was obvious whose it was, therefore everyone turned to Link.

"It's R.O.B.'s" Link chuckled.

Marth crossed his arms. "Oh, hilarious. Now pick them up."

"It's true, I saw him open up his chest compartment and ta-da!" Link explained as he gathered the cards.

As Pit was thinking how R.O.B.'s chest piece would pop open, cards flying out like caged pigeons, Ike yawned and dragged his legs to his room. One by one, the friends left until it was just Pit and Roy standing around the couches awkwardly. The old grandfather clock ticked a quarter to twelve and the floor was silent. Neither of them were particularly sleepy but in fact nervous.

"So…" Roy muttered.

"Are you ready?" Pit smiled widely.

Roy hoped Pit didn't see the cold sweat running down his neck.

* * *

Pit's room was chilly. The window was wide open so the rustling tree branches seemed closer than comfort. A couple of big fluffy clouds obscured the night sky, making the room a bit darker than usual.

When Pit went to close the window, he noticed a batch of orange flowers were placed in a vase by the railing. They were the same flowers at the dinner table that Kirby and Wario tossed in the air during their brawl.

"Huh. I guess it's the season to decorate with flowers." Pit said as he observed the flowers with his hands.

"You mean spring?"

"Yeah, whatever the human term for it is, blah blah. But what are these called?"

"Marigolds, I think." Roy's voice came out soft.

Then, both of them turned to the mirror. Nothing was out of the ordinary but somehow, they couldn't look away from their reflection. A couple seconds passed with them frozen in place, until Pit stretched his wings by a fraction and ticked Roy in the back of his neck, making him yelp in surprise.

"Why would you _ever_ do that!" Roy shoved him away, his face hot with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry! But not!" Pit snickered.

Roy gave him the cold shoulder but then looked at the mirror again. The ornate leaf-like decorations on the frame seemed to shimmer from the moonlight. The shimmering messed with the reflections of them.

It appeared, as if Pit's white wings were like a crow's.

Roy blinked hard and focused, and the wings were back to normal again. He guessed the dimness of the room and the shimmering on the frame was playing tricks with his color perception. Pit was setting his pillows on the floor for Roy to sleep on so he kept quiet.

The pillows made a mountain on the floor and Roy wondered where they all came from. He sat in the middle of them, then a fluff of cotton and down embraced him. Pit stared at his friend and crossed his arms.

"That looks more comfortable than the bed." He indicated.

Roy laughed. "And thanks for that."

He rolled around and sighed contentedly for good measure, and just as he calculated, Pit started to shove Roy away so he could be embraced in the warm shelter of fluff.

At times like when they practice their skills, they have the same amount of strength. But when they fight over something like now, Pit usually is a lot stronger than Roy for some reason. And Pit always reasoned that his wings give him strength in times of conflict or whatever.

And as they did conflict and Roy was exiled from the fluff kingdom, he rolled and hit the bed frame, laughing. The metal scaffolding shuddered against the wall for the tack holding up the mirror to loosen and jerk forward, letting Roy get a front view of his distorted reflection.

He blinked, but he still had a beady set of bloodshot eyes, along with a grisly shade of gray splayed across his skin.

Roy felt his arms shrivel up in horror, and scurried away from the mirror with just his legs. Pit noticed his friend's alarm and sat up immediately.

"What?" he whispered.

Before Roy could form any reply, he noticed his mouth was shut tight, still staring at the tilted mirror. The angle made the frame's shimmering appear darker. The air seemed to tighten around them and all of their attention was to the mirror as if they were anticipating it to move.

"It," Roy croaked, "It made my reflection look weird."

"Weird, like what?"

"I had, red eyes and…" He trailed off.

The room was suddenly foreign to them. The darkness underneath the bed, the open hallway, the small crack leading to the closet, the closed dark window. Every wall was closing in.

From some unknown bravado within, Pit scooted closer to the mirror on his fours. Roy tried to grab at his toga but that act wasn't a short enough distance to stop him.

Pit peered into the mirror, jerked in surprise, but then noticed something. When he picked it up to examine, his hands slipped and the mirror fell on the bed face down, harmlessly. Nevertheless, it made both of them let out a pathetic scream. They looked at each other and Pit was the first to burst out laughing.

"I cracked the code." He beamed.

Roy was still flabbergasted to form a complete sentence, so Pit picked up the mirror again. On the back, it had a tiny faded sticker that read: "Season-Changing Mirror".

"What…?"

"It's a colored mirror. Look!" Pit brought the mirror so it showed him and the marigolds on the desk.

Pit had a set of black wings Roy saw earlier, and the marigolds were tinted in a shade of teal. When he moved the mirror slightly, the distortion made the wings in the mirror a light brownish shade, and the marigolds a light blue.

"Why didn't it change color when we saw it in the market?" Roy swayed left and right, seeing the colors drift from spectrum to spectrum. Being so scared literally minutes ago sounded silly now.

"I think it changes based on how much sunlight it gets or maybe how cold or hot it is. I don't know, kind of like one of those 'mood rings' they had at the toy store."

"Oh…" Roy dropped his shoulders. He had the mirror in his hands now, looking at his green reflection. Now that he looked at the colored mirror carefully, his skin tone looked so minty-green it looked like a cheap face-painting job.

He felt Pit nudge him in his side. He didn't have to look up to see his friend having that knowing look on his face, making fun of him being terrified speechless.

"You were freaked out too."

Pit snorted. "Yeah, but I was open about my scared-ness. You were the one acting all, 'I'm not scared. This is illogical and stupid, blah blah.' Aaand who was scared the most?"

"First of all," Roy started, his voice rising, "I did not say I wasn't scared and you were the one who brought up the Internet fib and bought the shabby mirror at an antique store. And I wasn't saying it was stupid, I was interested in it, which was my mistake, obviously."

Pit raised a finger, shushing his friend. Roy swatted Pit's finger away from his lips immediately. The two kept their banter going, their volume rising higher and higher until they felt a presence in the hallway. Greninja, wearing little earmuffs, was holding Jigglypuff up, ready to sing with a microphone in hand. Jigglypuff inhaled with her eyes closed and ready to sing the best lullaby.

"Oh no, wait! We'll keep it dow—" Pit exclaimed, then fell face first into his bed, instantly asleep.

Roy just had a second to see Greninja hopping away contently, and then fell into the kingdom of pillows.

* * *

Mr. Game and Watch was in the room the following morning, throwing 2D sausages and ringing his bell for the two to wake up. Both of them complained but got up, cracking their necks and backs from the horrible position they slept from last night's debacle.

His best friend R.O.B. was behind him, rolling into Pit's room holding his chest compartment with his hands. Before they could ask why he came in, he opened an access flap and playing cards sprung out, scattering to every corner of Pit's room. The two eccentric friends high-fived and left the room beeping in a form of fruitful laughter.

"Haha, I remember, Link was saying that these cards are R.O.B.'s." Pit said dryly.

Roy groaned, covered in Hylian playing cards. "It's too early for this."

After complaining and vowing to glue a traffic cone inside Link's windsock hat (if they could find one lying by), Pit and Roy started picking up the cards. The mirror was still placed on the desk from last night, making their reflections a sunny yellow with orange eyes. Roy made a wry smile when he saw his brightly colored face.

Outside, the kids were playing by the tent again. Captain Olimar and five other Pikmins were carrying the incense pot to smoke the sticks.

Pit stared at them and said, "You know, there's one thing that's still weird to me."

"And what's that?" Roy asked, rolling his eyes.

"Who recommended us to go to the farmer's market?"

Roy stared at Pit. "Well, Captain Olimar and the Pikmin… "

"We never talked to them to see if they bought it there." Pit countered, his smile wiped clean off his face.

"But Meta Knight said…" Roy whispered.

"...When we came home last night, Meta Knight said he didn't know where we went."

That late afternoon, a pair of bloodcurdling screams resonated the halls and Hylian playing cards rained from Pit's window.

* * *

Author's Note: I wrote this in between some chapters of Heaven's Door because mirrors freak me out. Also I wanted to write more stories of Pit and Roy hanging out together. If you have a spooky story about mirrors, please share them because they freak me out but I love scary stories and mirror stories are the best.


End file.
